The first plan is for parents with small children, and focuses on the trick-or-treating, live performances, and character interactions that are exclusive to this after-hours event. The plan would work best if you’re already covering the Magic Kingdom’s main attractions during the day. Because the plan is designed for small children, we’ve included tips for viewing the early Mickey’s Boo-To-You Parade, and also how to exit the park quickly after HalloWishes.

An alternate plan for parents with small children focuses more on seeing the best Magic Kingdom attractions, and is appropriate if you’re trying to mix in a little candy snacking along with your day in the park. This plan also includes tips for parade and fireworks viewing.

Finally, we’ve created an adult Halloween Party touring plan that includes the best nighttime attractions, and keeps you within reach of every Snickers(tm) bar in the Magic Kingdom. Includes advice for viewing HalloWishes and the late parade.

Browsing over the official rules released by Disney and sorting through the websites including interviews with Disney officials on the subject of prizes and the Year of a Million Dreams, we’ve come to realize how Disney intends to award prizes. This is all spectulation for entertainment purposes, but is based on what has been released by Disney.

First, this particular line in the contest information is of interest:

“Sponsor anticipates that potential winners will be selected at the Disney Properties between opening and 5 pm local time; however, certain prizes (for example, Mickey Mouse Penthouse and Cinderella’s Castle Suite) are likely to be awarded early in the day to help ensure that a winner will be able to claim the prize and Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to select winners at the Disney Properties during any operating hours.”

What does that mean? A few things. Primarily, if you arrive after 5pm, you’re unlikely to be awarded anything. If you have an Epcot after 4pm Annual Pass be sure to enter the park between 4pm and 5pm to atleast have a chance of winning anything.

Next, Disney officials have mentioned in interviews that they do not intend to announce large prizes publicly on the spur of the moment to embarass guests or sadden others in the vicinity who did not win. The following appears in a recent article from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper:

“To avoid spontaneous scenes of envy and disappointment among nearby people, major prizewinners won’t be told what they won on the spot. “We’re not going to announce that in front of hundreds of other people who were so close,” Potrock said. “We’re going to celebrate later in the day by putting those people in as grand marshals in the parades.””

The Disney official being quoted is Ken Potruck, VP of Global Alliance Marketing. He is essentially saying that major prize winners will be chosen specifically in the early parts of the day, prior to the daily parade. Thus, if you want to win a big prize, you should arrive prior to a parade period, which is typically 3pm.

The Living with the Land boat ride at the Land pavilion was scheduled to reopened from refurbishment on Sunday the 17th, but will reopen on Tuesday, September 19th, due to delays. The conversion process from live cast members on the boats giving speil to an automated speil has apparently taken longer then expected.

Additionally, we have learned that Fastpass will now only be utilized at the attraction during periods of peak attendance. The new automated speil should allow for more boats on the track and signifigantly reduce the general wait time at the attraction. Touring plans for Epcot may need to be altered in the future if the change is drastic.

Disney maintains that the change is not a loss of personal interaction and human-touch from the attraction but rather “building upon cutting edge technology that already exists within the venue.”

Due to a recall of Segway Human Transporters caused by a programming error that causes them to tipover unexpectedly, all Segway experiences at Walt Disney World have been canceled until September 16th, 2006. This includes paid Segway tours (Simply Segway Experience and Around the World at Epcot) and Segway Central at Epcot.

Segway has issued a software upgrade which will remedy the problem and is sending a represenative to Walt Disney World to install it on all of their Segway vehicles.

Some details have been released about the Royal Bedchamber suite in Cinderella Castle which will be awarded to guests for an overnight stay at the Magic Kingdom as part of the Years of a Million Dreams.

A new entrance is being constructed, where guests will be greeted by a bellman who will escort them up to the suite by a an elevator. The room is 650 square feet, and plans to sleep 4-6 people, offering video games and wireless internet access.

The general design is to recreate a realistic castle interior with stonework, coffered ceilings, and French-period styling.

Official Rules The highlights: You can enter by mail. No purchase necessary. There are more than a million prizes (418,000 pins, 250,000 mouse ears, around 500,000 special FASTPASSes). Other prizes include after-hours events at the parks, dinners, sneak previews of attractions, and more.

Annual Passholders & Disney Vacation Club members will be allowed to preview the new Nemo based ride at Epcot (The Seas with Nemo and Friends) October 13-15, 2006. Each AP & DVC member may bring as many as 3 guests (previous previews only allowed DVC members to bring guests – this one DOES allow AP’s to bring guests) for the preview with their valid ID card. Park admission is required for all guests.